2006 4.0 will not turn over

[DeepSouthTJ]

The battery is fresh and the starter is good. I can still push start it, and all the other electronics work. When you turn the key to “start” power drains from the dash (as expected) and there is a single click from behind the glove box, but it will not start. Overriding the clutch switch with a fuse had no affect.

Any ideas on what might be wrong, or how to diagnose this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[qslim]

Sounds to me like an issue in the ignition switch, either the switch itself or a broken actuator pin.

A quick way to tell for sure is to pull the starter relay and jump the two terminals circled in the diagram below with the ignition in the run position and the trans in neutral. This will bypass the control side of the circuit and send battery voltage right to the starter, so if it starts then you know the culprit is either the ignition switch, the actuator pin, or the starter relay.

 

[DeepSouthTJ]

I’m sorry, but I can’t make sense of that diagram. This is where my starter relay is, and here’s the diagram on the lid.

 

[qslim]

Whoops sorry man, I copied & pasted that diagram from another thread trying to help a guy with the same issue, guess it was from an earlier model. Looks like your '06's PDC is different. According to your service manual (available for free in the TJ Resources section), you need to jump the two pins circled below to connect the battery directly to the starter like I was describing in my above post.

 

[DeepSouthTJ]

I tried jumping those two and got some sparks but it didn’t turn over. It’s been a while since I’ve driven the Jeep, but the key seems to have a bit more slack than I remembered.

 

[qslim]

I tried jumping those two and got some sparks but it didn’t turn over. It’s been a while since I’ve driven the Jeep, but the key seems to have a bit more slack than I remembered.

The slack in the key is a telltale sign of a broken actuator pin in your ignition switch, but it still should have cranked if your battery is good. Did you maintain contact between those two terminals? I've had to pull this move a number of times (once for an entire week before I got around to replacing the actuator pin) and I've always used a little pair of needle nose pliers to bridge the terminals.

 

[DeepSouthTJ]

I tried again with a pair of pliers and was able to get it to turn over by jumping the terminals. I bought a starter relay but that didn’t fix it so now I’ve ordered the actuator pin.

 

[qslim]

I tried again with a pair of pliers and was able to get it to turn over by jumping the terminals. I bought a starter relay but that didn’t fix it so now I’ve ordered the actuator pin.

Nice. If it comes down to it you can use that little trick to drive it until the pin comes in, you just have to put the key in the run position and it'll fire up when you jump those terminals (for God's sake just make sure it's in N or P). There are some good writeups on here for the pin replacement, it's pretty straight forward.

 

[Justemptyeverypocket]

I tried again with a pair of pliers and was able to get it to turn over by jumping the terminals. I bought a starter relay but that didn’t fix it so now I’ve ordered the actuator pin.

Your actuator pin is broken theyre made of cheap pot metal and break constantly (ask me how i know)

 

[DeepSouthTJ]

I replaced the actuator pin today and she starts like normal, so problem solves.